A Cynical Shadow's Return

Chapter 13

     There was high tension in the dark atmosphere of the forest. Everyone was quiet for a moment, not moving a single inch. Not even the usual chirping sounds of the crickets could be heard in this dead silence. It was a moment for everyone to realize what would soon occur. A bizarre battle to the death. The shadow did not know what to expect with the addition of Darzay and was more so worried about him and his lust for bloodshed. He was even curious as to why Darzay would even bother assisting Reko in the first place. Reko thought nothing of the shadow, nor Elias, and was more concerned about the well being of his son, and his other comrades. One thing left him puzzled, though, and it was the whereabouts of Agnus. The shadow took in a deep breath to calm himself and put on a small smirk.
        “Quite the unexpected surprise, I must say,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting you to still be alive, Reko. After our battle, I was sure that you would have ended up as wolf food, but, however, it may seem that Darzay has other intentions. Then again, you would have survived anyhow because that’s just the type of person you are. You’re a survivor. One who comes out of even the most impossible situations. I should know, of course, for I have known you for years now, but more specifically, your entire life. You and Agnus have been capable of achieving feats no mortal can even dream of accomplishing. However, we will see if--”
        “Shut the hell up already,” Darzay interrupted. “With as much as you bark, your bite better be able to back it up.” The shadow huffed and ignored Darzay’s comment, and Reko finally jumped down from Golly’s head then began walking towards Igneous with his hands in his pockets. Igneous’ smile grew wider as his father approached him, and started to get up on his feet, but the sharp pain in his back kept him from fully standing. Reko walked past the shadow without uttering a single word to him which struck a nerve in the shadow’s mind because it lets him know that Reko could care less about him for the moment. The shadow clenched his fists and turned to attack Reko, but as he did, Reko already his sharp blade up to the demon’s throat, stopping him where he stood. The shadow’s eyes slowly gravitated down to the cold blade on his neck, then he looked to Reko who still had his back towards him.
        “Try a stupid stunt like that again,” Reko pushed his sword up against the shadow’s neck more, “and this will be coming off much sooner than you’d expect.”
        “You’d dare threaten me,” the shadow growled and watched as Reko sheathed his sword.
        “It’s not a threat. It’s a guarantee.” Reko continued onward to Igneous, and when he reached his son, he knelt down to him, checking his wounds. Igneous looked up at Reko as tears came to eyes and hugged he gave his father a tight hug. The brave alpha stared at the boy for a moment before returning the hug and patting him on the head gently. 
        “E-Everyone th-thought you were...d-dead,” Igneous choked out, then looked up at Reko. “I-I thought th-that I had lost you forever…”
        “You know I’d never abandon you. As long as you’re alive, I won’t let anything kill me no matter what.”
        “I love you, Dad.”
        “Love you too, kid. Now,” Reko stood up and shot a glare at the shadow, “what’s this punk been up to while I’ve been gone?”
        “I don’t know much except that he’s put us in a corner. All of Tasaloo has turned against us because of him, and now he’s trying to kill all of us.”
        “Hm...What about Agnus? Where’s he?”
        “Agnus...Agnus suffered more than anyone. After Red’s death--”
        “Red’s dead?!” Reko clenched his fists and let out an angered growl as the shadow chuckled in amusement.
        “The strongest survive, Reko,” the shadow spoke, “and it just so happens that Red was at the wrong place at the wrong time. As a consequence, he ended up as a satisfying meal, and thus unleashing a raging power inside of Agnus and sending him on a brutal rampage. There was nothing he could do to save the brat. Chordon made sure of that, and we made him sit and watch as his precious son was eaten right before his eyes. Much like how helpless you were to save Kai and Lavonna. Their deaths brought out the real you, and now, Red’s death brought out the true Agnus. The unstable beast he was meant to be.” Darzay growled, having memories of his pack and how there was nothing he could do to ensure that they all survived. Savage, Rhazien, Zelgius, and Sheri meant a lot to him since they were more than just his companions. They were his only friends and now, Darzay can relate to Reko, but will never come out to admit it. Instead, Darzay leaped forward and kicked the shadow through several trees, catching everyone off guard. A grin came to the dashing devil’s face as he landed to the ground.
        “I thought I told you to shut the hell up,” Darzay said, then looked to Elias and began walking towards him, “and you. I’ll be taking my dagger back, now.” Elias backed away from Darzay, gripping the dagger tightly as nervous drops of sweat trickled down the sides of his face and dripped down into the grass. He wasn’t sure of what to do, and even with the power of the Gift, he was still terrified of who his opponent would soon be. After all, Darzay’s reputation throughout Tasaloo perceives him.
     Just then, Kinsa, Rai, and Lotus rushed into the scene with Kinsa and Rai having worried looks on their faces, and feelings that they arrived too late to save Igneous if he were in any danger. To their surprise, Igneous was still alive, and they were even more surprised to see Reko and Darzay present.
        “A-Am I seeing things,” Kinsa asked, then rubbed his eyes before taking another look. “I thought that Captain Reko and Darzay were both dead. How are they even here? What’s going on?”
        “There’s no time for questions, you two,” Reko said. “Get Igneous back home and get him patched up. Darzay and I will deal with these punks.” Kinsa transformed into his falcon form while Rai rushed over to Igneous and helped him get to his feet as he put his arm across his shoulder to help keep him standing. Igneous really wanted to stay in case his father would need help against the shadow, but knew that he was not of much worth in his condition so he enabled Rai to escort him over to Kinsa and help him get onto the large falcon’s back. Once Rai climbed aboard, Kinsa began flapping his wings as he escaped the battlefield through the air, leaving the two rivals behind.
     The shadow brought himself out from the numerous broken trees and dusted himself off, and Darzay put on his signature grin as he now faced Elias, him, and Reko now standing back to back. No words were shared during the midst of their standoff, for it was their body language that did most of the talking. Reko stood firm without any thoughts of backing down from the oncoming battle; the shadow chuckled to himself as he put on a twisted grin, ready to make Reko beg for mercy; Elias couldn’t stop his trembling no matter how hard he would try since he knew what was to come when fighting against Darzay, and Darzay simply motioned Elias to come forth with everything he had. They stood like this for quite some time, silent, and waiting on the other to make the first move. Elias gulped as a bead of sweat appeared on his forehead and slid down the side of his cheek, then dropped down into the grass from his chin. It was then that Elias mustered up all of his strength and charged at Darzay, and the shadow charged at Reko. Both villains threw strong punches at their opponents, but in an instant, they ended up striking each other in the face. Then, from above, Reko and Darzay knocked their enemies back with a strong kick to the face, causing them both to be sent flying back, and once the two rivals landed on the ground, Reko charged at the shadow.
     The shadow caught his balance and skidded across the ground, wiping the blood away from his mouth, then once he spotted Reko coming towards him, he sent forward multiple shadows towards the canine. However, Reko unsheathed only one of his swords as the Artifact shards he carried began glowing, and in a matter of seconds, the shadows were cut down. The shadow’s surprised look on his face soon turned to that of an angry expression as Reko sheathed his sword and the other shadows vanished.
        “Your experience in combat annoys me more than anything else,” the shadow spoke, “and then there’s your reason for fighting.”
        “You could have avoided this if you simply left my pack alone,” Reko said flatly.
        “I could, but then there would be no purpose of me existing anymore. My undying hate towards you and all of Tasaloo has brought me up to this point, and I must say, I am quite content with being the villain here. Call me whatever you want, it does not matter because I will see to it that everyone feels my wrath!”
        “Oh really? So you’re motivated by your own anger?”
        “Precisely! Hate and anger are what defines quite a large number of demons. It is the very essence of our unyielding power. I’ve already proven to you how our rage compares to that of a mortal back at that river. Rage blinds mortals, but for demons, it brings our power to new heights!”
        “Hm...Alright then.” The shadow clenched his fists and let out a low growl due to Reko’s constant calmness, but he restrained himself from attacking. He’s hiding something, but what? The shadow wondered and was caught off guard when Reko began walking towards him with his hands in his pockets.
        “You arrogant bastard, don’t you dare look down on me!” The shadow shouted as he charged at Reko with great speed and threw a punch at his face, but Reko cocked his head to the side and hit the shadow with a strong punch to the gut. The shadow coughed out black blood, but Reko didn’t give him enough time to recover from the attack for he had followed up by sending the demon flying with a hard roundhouse kick. While the shadow was soaring through the air, Reko rushed behind him and punt kicked him into the air, then hopped into a tree and lunged after him, hammerfisting him down to the ground.
     Darzay looked over to the two battling and chuckled as he then turned his head to Elias, cracking his knuckles. While he was occupied, Elias took it upon himself to attack Darzay with a wild frenzy of attacks, but it all proved to be useless since the attacks had no type of effect on Darzay, whatsoever.
        “Do you mind,” Darzay asked. “I was in the middle of getting ready to kick your ass.” Elias gasped in fear, then began wildly swinging the daggers he wielded, desperate to do some type of damage. Darzay dodged Elias’ attacks without any type of struggle, then let out a bored yawn as he pushed Elias away with his foot. Elias did, in fact, stumble backward and struggled to regain his balance from the force of Darzay’s push, and it wasn’t until he looked at his hands that he noticed Darzay had stolen his daggers at some point during his desperate offensive. Darzay began walking towards Elias menacingly, and the cornered wolf charged at the demon and began yet another desperate assault which was once again useless against Darzay. Elias then abruptly stopped, but not on his own as blood poured from his mouth and dropped down to the ground. Darzay had impaled Elias in the stomach with both daggers.
        “Oh, I’m sorry, tough guy,” Darzay taunted as he drove the daggers deeper into the poor mortal’s gut, making him scream in pain. “I wasn’t aware that it hurt you as much as it did.” Darzay then yanked the dagger from Elias’ gut and knocked him onto the ground, and Elias was left cringing in pain as the power of the gift was slowly beginning to fade away.
     The shadow sat in front of Reko, thinking of something for a moment while Reko stared the monster down with the usual aggressive look in his eyes, and the shadow chuckled as he got up and dusted himself off.
        “Quite impressive, I must say, Reko,” the shadow began running his mouth once more. “So this must be the result of you giving in to the rage and hatred you feel within your soul. Ah, I can see it now. Of the seven deadly sins, your sin is wrath. A sin that is very common amongst mortals. The curse I’ve put on Agnus, and my other failed experiments, revolves around that sin.”
        “What’s your point?” Reko asked boredly.
        “My point, Reko, is that you’re about to experience a terror that far reaches the horrors of hell itself, for you see, I’ve come to realize that the curse’ power rises with how angry the user is. With that being said, whenever a mortal uses it, they are indeed powerful, but whenever a demon possesses that power…” Reko furrowed his eyebrows for a brief second, then gasped in shock as he witnessed the shadow’s skin transforming from gray to purple, and his dark red eyes beginning to glow as a dark aura formed around his body, looking much like a black flame. The shadow chuckled and laughed maniacally as his own curse granted him power beyond recognition, but this only succeeded in putting Reko more on his guard now as a new challenge was set before him. Leaonay climbed on top of Golly’s shoulders so that she could get a better view of the shadow and had a nervous look on her face.
        “I hope that after all this time, he mastered how to properly use the Artifact shards’ power,” she said, then gulped, “b-because he’s gonna need it.” The shadow grinned insanely as he turned his head to Reko, letting off a tremendous amount of negative energy that caught even Darzay’s attention. The shadow looked at himself to see what has become of him, and as he did, he began to laugh maniacally.
        “So this is the overwhelming power of the gift,” he said, then looked at Reko with deadly intentions. “Feel honored, Reko, for you will be the first mortal to ever witness the full destructive power of the gift! Oh, and here’s an added bonus.” The dark aura around the shadow formed into a large, black cleaver that could cut boulders into two, and as Reko watched this, he growled and unsheathed his swords, ready to fight. The shadow snickered menacingly as he began running forward, dragging the blade along with him, and Reko stood his ground as the demon approached. The shadow briskly swung the blade at Reko’s head, but Reko was quick enough to avoid decapitation by pulling off a backward handspring at the precise moment. However, the shadow was just as quick with keeping up the offensive because right when Reko landed on his feet, he swung the massive weapon at the Tasoolian’s head, giving him no other choice but to block the attack with his own swords. Reko struggled to keep the blade from ending his life, and before he could make his counterattack, the shadow had kicked him in the stomach with enough force to send the alpha crashing through numerous trees. The shadow then proceeded to chase after Reko as he flew through the forest, and when Reko collided with one last tree, he crashed down to the ground with a hard impact. As he was recovering from the pain in his body, he noticed the shadow’s intense speed, and before the shadow tried to skewer him, he rolled out of the way, causing the blade to dig into the dirt. Reko then performed a starfish kip-up, and the shadow pulled his cleaver out of the dirt and pointed its sharp blade at his opponent, ready to attack once more. Reko’s grip on his swords grew tighter as he and the shadow charged at one another, and their blades clashed against each other, both wielders fighting for dominance over the other. It seemed that the shadow was winning the duel, but Reko quickly backflipped his way out of that situation before things got too messy, then leaped into a tree for a height advantage. The shadow chuckled and jumped into the tree behind him, not taking his eyes off of Reko for a moment. Reko’s handy shards began glowing, and when the shadow lunged forward with his incredible speed, he did the same. The shadow swung his cleaver, but Reko was swift enough to block the blade only to be blown away by the sheer force of the swing. The shadow grinned and began chasing after Reko, bouncing from branch to branch as he did, and once he easily caught up to Reko, he delivered a powerful punch to his stomach, sending him crashing into the ground with a rough impact. Blood flew from Reko’s mouth as he began catching his breath, and while he was getting up to his feet, the shadow came from nowhere and kicked him back down to the ground.
        “I find it quite difficult.” the shadow said with his signature cynical grin, “to protect those you care about when you’re getting tossed around like a ragdoll. Oh? Could it be that you’ve cast aside those worthless mortals? Is that why you refuse to put up much resistance. Honestly, I expected more from you, but what does it matter when I’ll kill you regardless?” Reko got himself standing and wiped the blood away from his mouth, and the shadow raised an eyebrow. “I know those attacks had an effect on you, and yet you act as though it didn’t phase you at all. I don’t understand, you’ve been acting quite strange ever since your arrival. It’s as if nothing at all bothers you, and it’s beginning to annoy me!” Reko took a deep breath to relax as he gathered his thoughts together. Alright, so this gift of his increases power, speed, and reaction time, and what makes my situation worse is that he’s a demon who I had trouble dealing with the last time we fought. I wonder, is now the right time to do it? No, I need to wait this out until I know for certain that I can beat him. In the meantime, I need to be prepared for whatever tricks he may have up his sleeve. The shadow gripped his sword as Reko did the same with his, and the two charged at each other, clashing their blades against each other once more in a desperate battle for dominance. Before the shadow could make his move, Reko activated the Artifact shard’s power and gave a hard knee to the shadow’s chin, knocking him off of his feet, but when he jumped forward to continue attacking, the shadow recovered from the attack and kicked Reko into the air. The shadow then flipped himself over to land onto his feet, and once he did, he began bouncing from tree to tree to get up to Reko. As Reko was in the air, he recovered from the damage he received and quickly sheathed his swords as he spotted the shadow charging towards him, and when the shadow got up to him, he thrusted his cleaver at Reko’s head only for it to miss by Reko dodging in time. Then, Reko took the chance to deliver a strong punch to the shadow’s face, making him plummet to the ground. 
     Reko landed down onto the ground, panting softly, then cringed in pain and fell onto his knees as the damage he took from the last few attacks began taking full effect. This guy definitely packs a punch, Reko thought to himself as he stood back up, still panting and looking in the direction of where he had knocked the shadow, then growled when he heard an enraged shout from the demon.
        “REKOOOO!!!!!” The shadow angrily shouted as a massive shockwave was sent out, blowing away trees, and anything else surrounding the shadow. Reko was blown back into a boulder from the force of the fierce winds. The shadow stood in the center of a small crater, furiously baring his teeth, letting out demonic growls, and his veins pulsing roughly pulsing. Leaonay and Golly heard the screams as well as Darzay, and they began to run towards the sound of the shouting while Darzay stayed back to deal with Elias.